May 11: Polydrosos
The day dawned drizzly. Alexandra set out a lovely breakfast, including especially good fresh yogurt with a creamy skin atop in a clay pot. (This type of yogurt is available in most Greek grocery stores-I highly recommend it if you can find it!)
We packed up to head off on our first day of hiking, laden with the lunch Alexandra packed for us. We started in town, but quickly found ourselves in the countryside.
It didn’t take long for us to leave the town and enter genuine countryside. The trail looked as if no one had yet walked it this season. Greece doesn’t have the same hiking culture as places like Switzerland, and trails aren’t as obviously used and maintained.
Late in the afternoon, we arrived at Guesthouse Sofiana, where we were greeted by Mrs. Fifi. Once again, we were the only guests in a rather large establishment. Once again, the heat wasn’t on when we arrived, though Mrs. Fifi did turn on the radiators for us.
That evening, we ventured out in a drizzle to see what Polydrosos has to offer. The answer was: slightly more than Eptalafos, but not much more.
Chris ripped his Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer on a chain-link fence. The feathers were in danger of escaping, which would’ve been a problem the next night on Mount Parnassus. We found a pharmacy, where the pharmacist sold us some bandage tape.
We found a likely looking restaurant, or at least a restaurant that appeared to be open, though no one was dining there. It claimed to sell wild boar dishes.
Since we had our choice of tables, we selected one by a window overlooking the misty valley. The proprietor tore himself away from political television (it was election season, and the conservatives were coming in strong) to take our order. When we asked to see a menu, he shrugged but gave us one anyway. The reason for the shrug became clear as we deciphered the Greek and asked for things, to each of which he replied, “No.”
Finally we asked him what he did have. “Souvlaki. Patates. Horiatiki.” So we ordered souvlaki and French fries and horiatiki. The horiatiki arrived cold from the fridge where it must have been sitting for hours. The French fries were soggy with grease. The souvlaki came from the souvlaki stand next door. After serving us, the man went back to lurk by his television.
Ah well! It was worth paying to sit at a table with a view out of the rain, and at least there WAS a restaurant!
Polydrosos is another of these mountain towns that seems to be developing a tourist industry, partly in response the the development of ski resorts on Mount Parnassus, but that is either on or off, nothing in between. There’s a winery there that specializes in some old local varietals. I imagine the town square is hopping in summertime.